Thomas LeRoy Guntrum, of Shippenville, initially tried to volunteer to go to Vietnam, but was rejected. He was drafted a year later, serving two tours of duty from October 1966 to October 1968.
He was part of the United States Army Special Forces. He received three medals – the National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal.
He passed away in May of 2012, at the age of 65.
Name: Thomas LeRoy Guntrum
Age: Deceased
Hometown: New Bethlehem, PA
High School: Union Joint High School, class of 1964
Branch: United States Army, Special Forces
Date Joined the Service: 1966
Years of Service: 2 years
Deployments: Vietnam, 1966
Family Life:
During his first tour of duty, he was assisting the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Viet Nam) and met his wife Oanh. They married in June of 1967. Two days before he was discharged, they had their first child, a daughter.
He returned to the U.S. and hitchhiked from New Bethlehem, Pa., to the state of California. Then, he went back to Vietnam with only $15.00 in his pocket. He wanted to be with his wife and daughter.
He came back to the U.S. when it was necessary, but he continued to return to Vietnam to be with his family. They had one more daughter born in 1969; their third child, a son, was born in 1971; and a fourth child, a second son, was born in 1973. He brought his wife and four children back to the U.S .on May 3, 1973. He dearly loved his family.
He was an avid fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins teams.
He managed little league and senior league baseball. He was a PIAA Baseball umpire, founded Northern Clarion and Forest County American Legion Baseball, and served as the league president from 1989 to 2000. He was inducted into the American Legion Hall of Fame in 1999.
He battled colon cancer for 4 years and passed away on May 4, 2012, which was 39 years and 1 day after he brought his family to the U.S.
He was one month away from his 45th wedding anniversary.
All American HQ is located on U.S. 322 in Shippenville. The company specializes in all kinds of awards, trophies, engraving, screen printing embroidery, unique gifts and more and basically, as the company motto says, ‘will put just about anything on just about anything.’ They can be found on the web at www.allamericanhq.com or by calling 1-877-402-9273 and asking for Jim Carroll.